Dr. Ola Awad, President of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics “PCBS”,on Sunday 04/04/2020, highlighted the Palestinian children’s situation on the Occasion of the Palestinian Child Day, 05/04/2020:

The Palestinians celebrate the Palestinian Child Day on the fifth of April each year. Those children who are the builders of the country and its greatest resource.

Almost half of the Palestinian society are children (under 18 years)

Estimated number of children (under 18 years) is 2.27 million in Palestine in mid 2020, with 1.16 males and 1.11 females. Children in Palestine comprise 45% of the total population (42% in the West Bank, and 48% in Gaza Strip).

Number of children by age group, region and sex, mid 2020

Age group

West Bank

Gaza Strip

Males

Females

Males

Females

0-4

202,441

193,388

155,637

149,389

5-9

188,248

178,258

145,137

138,626

10-14

173,700

165,978

131,314

125,399

15-17

97,550

93,701

66,702

63,692

Total

661,939

631,325

498,790

477,106

One out of five registered marriage contracts are for females under 18 years

Data of registered marriages and divorce contracts 2018, indicated a decline in the percentage of early marriage for both males and females (under 18 years). The percentage of females (under 18 years) who got married during the year 2018 was around 20% of the total number of married females in the same year (19% in the West Bank and 21% in Gaza Strip); whereas the percentage of 2010 was 24%.

Moreover, the percentage of males (under 18 years) who got married during 2018 was around 1% of the total number of married males during the same year; whereas the percentage was about 2% in 2010, according to the database of marriages and divorces in Palestine.

Almost two thirds of children (10-17 years) used the internet

Data of the Household Survey on Information and Communications Technology 2019 showed that the percentage of children (10-17 years) who used the Internet reached 66% (69% in the West Bank and 62% in Gaza Strip), where it reached 68% of male children and 63% of female children. As for pace of internet use, data indicated that 67% of children who used the internet used it at least once a day; 72% of male children and 61% of female children. Also, it indicated that 28% of children used the internet at least once a week: 24% of male children and 33% of female children.

Furthermore, the survey’s data showed that 84% of the households controlled the daily hours use of internet for their children (5-17 years): 82% in the West Bank and 86% in Gaza Strip.

6 out of 10 children used social media networks

In 2019, Data showed that the percentage of children (10-17 years) who used social media or vocational networks reached 64% in Palestine (71% in the West Bank and 54% in Gaza Strip), with 73% for male children compared to 55% for female children.

1 out of 10 children (12-17 years) experienced cyber violence

Data of the Violence Survey in the Palestinian Society 2019 indicated that 9% of children (12-17 years) experienced one form of cyber violence (blackmailed, harassed, insulted via social media networks): 8% for male children and 10% for female children.

One fifth of children (10-17 years) participated of Indoor and outdoor sports, and 3% only of them performed reading activities

The data of the Time Use survey 2012/2013 showed that 20% of children (10-17 years) participated of Indoor and outdoor sports activities with average time (1 hours and 42 minutes) on the day who Performed this activities in Palestine: 32% of males and 6% of females.

3% of children (10-17 years) performed reading activities with average time (43 minutes) on the day who Performed this activities in Palestine: 1% of males and 6% of females.

3% of children (10-17 years) visited parks/gardens with average time (2 hours and 16 minutes) on the day who Performed this activities in Palestine.

Dropout rates are low in Palestine

The primary data for the scholastic year 2019/2020 showed that the number of school students in Palestine reached about 1.313 million students, out of which 1.063 million were students in the basic stage (50.8% males and 49.2% females), 250 thousand students in the secondary stage (45.2% males and 54.8% females).

The dropout rate in the scholastic year 2017/2018 was about 1.0% among males compared to 0.6% among females. When comparing the dropout rate by grade, we find that the highest dropout rate among males was in the vocational branch (10th grade) by 6%, while the highest dropout rate among females was in the technology branch (12th grade) by 21%, according to the database of Education Survey for the scholastic year 2018/2019.

One quarter of children (12-17 years) experienced violence at schools

Data of the Violence Survey in the Palestinian Society 2019 indicated that 25% of children (12-17 years) experienced one form of violence at their schools in Palestine (19% in the West Bank and 34% in Gaza Strip).

Moreover, data showed that psychological violence is the most practiced against students in this age group by their colleague students with a percentage of 19% in comparison to 12% of children who experienced physical violence by their colleagues. Also, data indicated that the percentage of children (12-17 years) who experienced physical violence by one of their male or female teachers at school reached 17% in comparison to 15% of children who experienced psychological violence by one of their male or female teachers at school.

Stability in child labour rates compared to previous years

According to the Labour Force Survey 2019, the percentage of employed children (paid or unpaid) reached about 3% of total number of children (10-17 years): 4% in the West Bank and 1% in Gaza Strip (6% of male children and 0.2% of female children).

Moreover, the percentage of children enrolled at schools and engaged in the Labour market reached 1% (1% in the West Bank and 0.5% in Gaza Strip). As for gender distribution, the percentage was 2% for male children and 0.1% for female children during 2019.

200 children are detained in the Israeli prisons

Data from Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs indicated that the number of detention cases for children (under 18 years) reached 889 cases during 2019. Moreover, Israeli occupation forces issued administrative detention orders against 4 children, while the number of detained children in the occupation prisons reached 200 (under 18 years) by the end of 2019.

28 martyrs were children in 2019

According to the records of the Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP), 28 children (under 18 years) were martyred in 2019 (7 children (0-12 years), 10 children (13-15 years) and 11 children (16-17 years) compared to 57 child martyrs during 2018.